January 20, 2012

Dark Chocolate Nutella

Nutella madness is everywhere, and I must admit that I'm not immune. I love Nutella and that's no joke! But I will also add that I think the original is a tad too sweet for even my sweet tooth. And since there is no shortage of homemade Nutella recipes to be found, I thought I would try my hand at making some for myself, only darker and edgier... Or maybe just darker and less sweet.

Happily, this recipe (which I found here) requires only a handful of ingredients -- literally 5, plus an optional pinch of salt -- and comes pretty darn close to the original.

A couple of caveats, though: You will need a food processor. I cannot imagine attempting this without one. And if you can find hazelnuts that have already been skinned, get them. Skinning hazelnuts is a major pain in the derrier, and should be avoided if at all possible.

If you need a good tutorial on skinning hazelnuts, head over here. I toasted my nuts on the stovetop and shook them around/rubbed them together in a paper bag until most (read: 50% or so because I didn't have the patience to concern myself with removing more) of the skins had fallen off. The more skin you can remove, the smoother your finished product will be.

And while the addition of a pinch of salt is optional, I do recommend it. Particularly sea salt, which really brings out awesomeness in dark chocolate.

Directions:
Once your hazelnuts have been toasted, skinned, and cooled, toss them in your food processor and process them until they turn into a paste that resembles peanut butter. This will take a while, and may require you to stop and scrape the sides of your bowl a time or two.

Meanwhile, melt your chocolate in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until smooth and shiny. Add to that your sweetened condensed milk and sea salt, if desired, and mix thoroughly. Then mix in your hazelnut butter.

At this point, the mixture will be quite thick. That's where the evaporated milk comes in. Stir in milk* a little at a time until you get the consistency you like, then add a bit more, because it will thicken more as it cools. I did this in my food processor to ensure that things were nice and smooth, but you certainly don't have to. I used about half of a 12 oz. can of evaporated milk.

*Your milk should be room temp. or warmer. Cold milk will cause your chocolate mixture to seize up, and that's no good.

While it's still warm, pour into airtight containers. Once cool, you should store it in the fridge and remove it a couple of minutes before you want to spread it so it has a chance to soften up.

This made about 4 cups, so there's plenty to share with the lucky beneficiary of your choice!

Looks good. The one I make calls for unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder, pure vanilla, powdered sugar, salt and hazelnut oil. No dairy and can be stored in or out of the refrigerator for up to one month.